The core of classroom instruction involves lecture, practice, and testing. During classroom instruction, students typically remain seated for long periods of time and have limited opportunities to engage in physical activity. Conventional seating in classroom settings includes a chair and table providing students with a place to sit and an area to work. Examples of conventional classroom seating include the individual student desk and separate chair, the one-piece student desk and chair, and group tables and chairs. Conventional classroom seating addresses the basic utilitarian need of students to sit and take notes or tests. Durability and uniformity are primary design considerations. For institutional furniture, student comfort is a secondary consideration. As such, conventional classroom seating offers no adjustments and is constructed with hard and rigid materials for durability.
Students confined to conventional classroom seating might have a need to move around for various reasons. The student might be losing focus and need to engage in physical activity to restore alertness or is simply uncomfortable and is looking for a better seating position. Or, the student may have pent up energy that needs to be released. Getting up from one's seat and moving around during class is disruptive to the learning of the student who gets up, the other students in the class, and the lecturer. In addition to being disruptive, leaving one's seat during work times and testing reduces student productivity and raises concerns of cheating. However, conventional classroom seating offers no alternative. With no ability to engage in non-disruptive activities for stimulation or release, some students will inevitably fall asleep or otherwise drift off or find an outlet for their excess energy, often in a way that disturbs others in the classroom.
Conventional classroom seating is even more unforgiving for learners with special needs. The mental, emotional, or physical challenges faced by special needs students often make learning more difficult because they require more stimulation and outlets than regular students to cope with educational stress. America's classrooms are experiencing higher numbers of children who exhibit challenging behaviors, and too often teachers are spending precious instructional time on discipline issues. Students with mental health and developmental diagnoses deserve the right to an education that is appropriate to their needs. Some students may need additional time or a modified curriculum to help maintain emotional stability and avoid overstimulation. Fatigue and frustration greatly increase the likelihood that a student will exhibit behavior problems. Therefore, it is imperative that special needs students receive the most effective behavior management interventions available so they can develop greater self-control and discover untapped academic potential.
Special-needs learners diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as well as many different types of anxiety, conduct, and developmental disorders often get stuck in counterproductive mental states, and movement has been shown to successfully interrupt negative behavior patterns. Allowing a child with attention or impulse control issues the ability to move during learning activities helps activate the brain and trigger organic learning for body and brain. Requiring students to remain seated for extended periods does not promote optimal learning conditions and is particularly difficult for students with behavior and developmental challenges. Blending core curriculum with purposeful movement provides students the mental and physical stimulation to improve academic performance and achieve greater emotional and physical control.
There are desks and task chairs available, notably office furniture, that are adjustable and/or allow freedom to move. Office furniture incorporates materials, features, and adjustments for ergonomic comfort, such as height adjustable desks allowing users to sit or stand and chairs with adjustments for seat and/or arm rest height, adjustable lumbar supports. Task chairs typically have casters and spinning seats allowing users to move around their work area and perform various tasks without leaving their seat. Office chairs and recliners have reclining or flexible backrests offering comfort. While appropriate for office or home environments, such furniture would be counterproductive in a typical classroom. Such furniture requires more space than a typical student desk, which is a concern in a classroom where the occupancy per square foot is much higher than a typical office environment. In an institutional educational setting where a high number of students, high occupant turnover throughout the school day, and low occupant accountability are factors, the added expense of and likelihood of damage to adjustment features rendering the furniture worse than its non-adjustable counterpart, or even unusable, is not feasible for most school system budgets. Finally, while casters and spinning seats are efficient for task-based movement, such mobility has a high risk of contributing to disruptive behavior in a classroom environment, yet does little to provide educational enhancing stimulation and purposeful movement that enhances learning.
It is with respect to these and other consideration that the present invention was conceived.